People who have known me for a while say I don’t even trust my own shadow. Those who have known me for years say the same, except they exclude themselves. Trust is a strange state. I used to think that no one cared about me because I felt constantly betrayed.

Then I realized the situation is more complex. Often, people didn’t keep their word or promises not because they didn’t value me, but because they didn’t understand the seriousness of it. This stems from having different priorities and values. For instance, if someone values family above all, they’ll keep a promise related to family because it’s important to them. However, if my art is important to me but not to them, they might break their promise without realizing its impact, shaking my trust in them forever.

That’s the way the game is played. I have realistic examples, but now is not the time to share them.

A simple yet challenging solution is to be careful when making promises and to keep them. It may not be significant to you, but it could mean everything to someone else.

Since the above solution might not be realistic, perhaps it’s best to rely on yourself to avoid unnecessary pain. Ultimately, it’s not just about trust but self-protection. Trust is earned; it shouldn’t be freely given to anyone who crosses your path.

Postscript: All of the above are reasonable explanations, but they don’t lessen the pain or the feeling of betrayal.